Geologic Time Scale and Evolution

Chapter: Geologic Time
Table of Contents
Section 3: Middle and Recent Earth
History
Section 1: Life and Geologic Time
Section 2: Early Earth History

• Trilobites are
small, hard-
shelled organisms
that crawled on
the seafloor.
Geologic Time
Life and Geologic Time
1
• They are considered
to be index fossils
because they lived over vast regions of
the world during specific periods of
geologic time.

• Paleontologists have been able to divide
Earth’s history into time units based on the
life-forms that lived only during certain
periods.
• This division of Earth’s history makes up the
geologic time scale.
The Geologic Time Scale
1

• Four major subdivisions of
geologic time are used—
eons, eras, periods, and
epochs.
• The longest subdivisions—
eons—are based upon the
abundance of certain
fossils.
1
Major Subdivisions of Geologic Time

• Next to eons, the longest
subdivisions are the eras,
which are marked by major,
striking, and worldwide
changes in the types of
fossils present.
1

• Periods are units of geologic time
characterized by the types of life existing
worldwide at the time.
• Periods can be divided into smaller units of
time called epochs.
• Eras are subdivided into periods.
1
• Epochs are also characterized by differences
in life-forms, but some of these differences
can vary from continent to continent.

• Sometimes it is possible
to distinguish layers of
rock that formed during
a single year or season.
• In other cases, thick
stacks of rock that have
no fossils provide little
information that could
help in subdividing
geologic time.
Dividing Geologic Time
1

• The fossil record shows that species have
changed over geologic time.
• This change through time is known as
organic evolution.
Organic Evolution
1
• Organisms that are not adapted to changes
are less likely to survive or reproduce.
• Over time, the elimination of individuals that
are not adapted can cause changes to species
of organisms.

• Life scientists often define a species as a group
of organisms that normally reproduces only
with other members of their group.
Species
1

Natural Selection
1
• Charles Darwin was a naturalist who sailed
around the world from 1831 to 1836 to study
biology and
geology.

Natural Selection
1
• In his book, he proposed that natural
selection is a process by which organisms with
characteristics that are suited to certain
environment have a better chance of surviving
and reproducing than organisms that do not
have these characteristics.

• Because many characteristics are inherited, the
characteristics of organisms that are better
adapted to the environment get passed on to
offspring more often.
Natural Selection
1
• According to Darwin, this can cause a species
to change over time.

• A new characteristic
becomes common
in a species only if
some members
already possess that
characteristic and if
the trait increases
the animal’s chance
of survival.
Natural Selection Within a Species
1

• By carefully choosing individuals with
desired characteristics, animal breeders have
created many breeds of cats, dog, cattle, and
chickens.
Artificial Selection
1
• Natural selection explains how
characteristics change and how new species
arise.

• The exoskeleton of a trilobite consists of
three lobes that run the length of the body.
Trilobites
1
• The trilobite’s body also has a head
(cephalon), a segmented middle section
(thorax), and a tail (pygidium).

• Paleontologists can
use these different
characteristics to
demonstrate changes
in trilobites through
geologic time.
Changing Characteristics of
Trilobites
1

Changing Characteristics of
Trilobites
1
• These changes can
tell you about how
different trilobites
from different
periods lived and
responded to
changes in their
environments.

• Trilobite eyes show
the result of natural
selection.
Trilobite Eyes1

Trilobite Eyes
1
• In most species of trilobites, the eyes were
located midway on the head—a compromise
for an organism that was adapted for crawling
on the seafloor and swimming in the water.
• Over time, the eyes in trilobites changed.
• In many trilobite species, the eyes became
progressively smaller until they completely
disappeared.

Trilobite Eyes
1
• Blind trilobites might have burrowed into
sediments on the seafloor or lived deeper than
light could penetrate.
• In other species,
however, the
eyes became
more complex.

Trilobite Eyes
1
• One kind of trilobite, Aeglina, developed large
compound eyes that had numerous individual
lenses.
• Some trilobites developed stalks that held the
eyes upward.

Trilobite Bodies
1
• The trilobite body and
tail also underwent
significant changes in
form through time.
• It is thought that
Olenellus, and other
species that have so
many body segments,
are primitive trilobites.

Fossils Show Changes1
• Trilobite exoskeletons changed as trilobites
adapted to changing environments.
• Species that could not adapt became extinct.

Plate Tectonics and Earth History
• Plate tectonics is
one possible
answer to the
riddle of trilobite
extinction.
• By the end of the Paleozoic Era, sea levels
had dropped and the continents had come
together to form one giant landmass, the
supercontinent Pangaea.
1

Plate Tectonics and Earth History
• Because trilobites lived in the oceans, their
environment was changed or destroyed.
• Not all scientists accept this explanation for
the extinctions at the end of the Paleozoic
Era, and other possibilities—such as climate
change—have been proposed.
1

1
Question 1
Which of these geologic time subdivisions is
longest?
A. era
B. eon
C. epoch
D. period
Section Check
NC: 5.01

1
Section Check
Answer
The answer is B.
Eons are the longest
subdivisions of
geologic time and
are based upon the
abundance of certain
fossils.
NC: 5.01

1
Question 2
What is organic evolution?
Section Check
Answer
Organic evolution is the change
of species over time.
NC: 5.01, 5.02

1
Question 3
__________ is the process by which organisms
with specific characteristics have a greater
chance of surviving and reproducing than
organisms that do not have those characteristics.
A. Artificial selection
B. Natural selection
C. Organic evolution
D. Predominance
Section Check
NC: 5.02

1
Section Check
Answer
The answer is B. Charles Darwin wrote about
the theory of evolution by natural selection in
his book, The Origin of Species.
NC: 5.02

Precambrian Time
• Precambrian time is the longest part of
Earth’s history and includes the Hadean,
Archean, and Proterozoic Eons.
Early Earth History
2

Precambrian Time
• Precambrian time lasted from about 4.5
billion years ago to about 544 million years
ago.
Early Earth History
2

Precambrian Time
• Although the Precambrian was the longest
interval of geologic time, relatively little is
known about the organisms that lived during
this time.
• One reason is that many Precambrian rocks
have been so deeply buried that they have
been changed by heat and pressure.
Early Earth History
2

Precambrian Time
• In addition, most Precambrian organisms
didn’t have hard parts that otherwise would
have increased their chances to be preserved
as fossils.
Early Earth History
2

Early Life
• Many studies of the
early history of life
involve ancient
stromatolites.
• Stromatolites are
layered mats formed
by cyanobacteria
colonies.
2
Early Earth History

Early Life
• Cyanobactreia are blue-green algae thought
to be one of the earliest forms of life on
Earth. They contained chlorophyll and used
photosynthesis.
• During photosynthesis they produced
oxygen, which helped oxygen become a
major atmospheric gas.
2
Early Earth History

Early Life
• Animals without backbones, called
invertebrates, appeared toward the end of
Precambrian time.
• Because these early invertebrates were soft-
bodied, they weren’t often preserved as
fossils. Because of this, many Precambrian
fossils are trace fossils.
2
Early Earth History

Unusual Life-Forms
• A group of animals with shapes similar to
modern jellyfish, worms, and soft corals was
living late in Precambrian time.
• This group of organisms has become known
as the Ediacaran fauna.
2
Early Earth History
• Ediacaran animals were bottom dwellers and
might have had tough outer covering like air
mattresses.

• The Paleozoic Era, or era of ancient life,
began about 544 million years ago and ended
about 248 million years ago.
The Paleozoic Era
• An abundance of organisms with hard parts,
such as shells, marks the beginning of the
Paleozoic Era.
2
Early Earth History

Paleozoic Life
• Many of the life-forms scientists know about
were marine, meaning they lived in the
ocean.
2
Early Earth History
• Trilobites were common, especially early in
the Paleozoic.
• Other organisms developed shells that were
easily preserved as fossils.
• Vertebrates, or animals with backbones, also
evolved during this era.

Paleozoic Life
• Armored fish with jaws lived during the
Devonian Period.
2
Early Earth History
• By the Devonian
Period, forests
had appeared and
vertebrates began
to adapt to land
environments, as
well.

Life on Land
• Paleontologists know that many ancient fish
had lungs as well as gills.
2
Early Earth History
• Lungs enabled these fish to live in water with
low oxygen levels—when needed they could
swim to the surface and breathe air.
• One kind of ancient fish had lungs and
leglike fins, which were used to swim and
crawl around on the ocean bottom.

Life on Land
• Paleontologists hypothesize that amphibians
might have evolved from this kind of fish.
2
Early Earth History

• Today amphibians
live in a variety of
habitats in water
and on land.
• They all have at
least one thing in
common, though.
They must lay
their eggs in water
or moist places.
2
Early Earth History
Life on Land

• By the Pennsylvanian Period, some
amphibians evolved an egg with a membrane
that protected it from drying out.
• These animals, called reptiles, no longer needed
to lay eggs in water.
2
Early Earth History
Life on Land
• Reptiles also have skin with hard scales that
prevent loss of body fluids.
• This adaptation enables them to survive farther
from water in relatively dry climates.

• Several mountain-
building episodes
occurred during the
Paleozoic Era.
2
• The Appalachian
Mountains, for
example, formed
during this time.
Early Earth History
Mountain Building

• The first mountain-building episode
occurred as the ocean separating North
America from Europe and Africa closed.
• Several volcanic island chains that had
formed in the ocean collided with the North
American Plate.
2
• The collision of the island chains generated
high mountains.
Mountain Building
Early Earth History

• The next mountain-building episode was a
result of the African Plate colliding with the
North American Plate.
• When Africa and North America collided,
rock layers were folded and faulted.
2
• Sediments were uplifted to form an immense
mountain belt, part of which still remains
today.
Mountain Building
Early Earth History

• At the end of the
Paleozoic Era, more
than 90 percent of all
marine species, and
70 percent of all land
species died off.
2
End of an Era
Early Earth History

• Near the end of the Permian Period, the
continental plates came together and
formed the supercontinent Pangaea.
2
• Mountain-building processes caused seas to
close and deserts to spread over North
America and Europe.
• Many species, especially marine organisms,
couldn’t adapt to these changes, and became
extinct.
End of an Era
Early Earth History

• During the late Paleozoic Era, volcanoes were
extremely active. If the volcanic activity was
great enough, it could have affected the entire
globe.
2
• Perhaps a large asteroid or comet collided
with Earth some 248 million years ago.
• Perhaps the extinction was caused by several
or all of these events happening at about the
same time.
Other Hypotheses
Early Earth History

2
Section Check
Question 1
Which was the longest period of
geologic time?
A. Paleozoic Era
B. Pennsylvanian Period
C. Phanerozoic Eon
D. Precambrian Time
NC: 5.01

2
Section Check
Answer
The answer is D.
Precambrian Time was
the longest period of
geologic time, lasting
about 4 billion years.
NC: 5.01

2
Section Check
Question 2
_________ are blue-green algae and are thought
to be one of the earliest forms of life on Earth.
A. Amphibious plants
B. Cyanobacteria
C. Dickensonia
D. Trilobites
NC: 5.01, 5.03

2
Section Check
Answer
The answer is B. Cyanobacteria are
photosynthetic organisms containing
chlorophyll.
NC: 5.01, 5.03

2
Section Check
Question 3
Animals without backbones are called
__________.
A. exvertebrates
B. invertebrates
C. neovertebrates
D. nonvertebrates
NC: 5.01

2
Section Check
Answer
The answer is B. The proper term for animals
without backbones is “invertebrates”.
NC: 5.01

• The Mesozoic Era, or era of middle life,
was a time of many changes on Earth.
3
• At the beginning of the Mesozoic Era, all
continents were joined as a single landmass
called Pangaea.
Middle and Recent Earth History
The Mesozoic Era
The Breakup of Pangaea

• Pangaea separated into two large landmasses.
3
• The northern mass was Laurasia, and
Gondwanaland was the southern landmass.
The Mesozoic Era
Click image to view movie.

• Reptile’s skin helps it retain bodily fluids.
3
• This characteristic, along with their shelled
eggs, enabled reptiles to adapt readily to the
drier climate of the Mesozoic Era.
The Mesozoic Era
• Reptiles became the most conspicuous
animals on land by the Triassic period.

3
• Dinosaurs ranged in
height from less
that 1 m to
enormous creatures
like Apatosaurus
and Tyrannosaurus.
• Throughout the Mesozoic Era, new species
of dinosaur evolved and other species
became extinct.
Dinosaurs

3
• Some dinosaur tracks indicate that these
animals were much faster runners than you
might think.
• Gallimimus could reach speeds of 65 km/h.
Dinosaurs Were Active

3
• Some studies also indicate that dinosaurs
might have been warm blooded, not cold
blooded like present-day reptiles.
Dinosaurs Were Active
• Slices through some cold-blooded animal
bones show rings similar to growth rings in
trees.
• The bones of some dinosaurs don’t show this
ring structure.

3
• The fossil record also indicates that some
dinosaurs nurtured their young and traveled
in herds in which the adults surrounded their
young.
Good Mother Dinosaurs

3
• One such dinosaur is Maiasaura.
Good Mother Dinosaurs
• This dinosaur built nests in which it laid eggs
and raised its offspring.
• Nests have been found in relatively close
clusters, indicating that more than one family
of dinosaurs built in the same areas.
• Some fossils of hatchlings have been found
near adult animals, leading paleontologists to
think that some dinosaurs nurtured their
young.

• Birds appeared during the Jurassic Period.
3
• Some paleontologists think that birds evolved
from small, meat-eating dinosaurs.
• The earliest bird, Archaeopteryx, had wings
and feathers.
Birds

• Mammals
first appeared
in the Triassic
Period.
3
• The earliest
mammals
were small,
mouselike
creatures.
Mammals

• Mammals are warm-blooded vertebrates
that have hair covering their bodies.
3
• The females produce milk to feed their
young.
Mammals
• These two characteristics have enabled
mammals to survive in many changing
environments.

• During most of the Mesozoic Era,
gymnosperms dominated the land.
3
• Gymnosperms are plants that produce seeds
but not flowers.
Gymnosperms
• These include pines and ginkgo trees.

• Angiosperms, or flowering plants, first
evolved during the Cretaceous Period.
3
• Angiosperms produce seeds with hard outer
coverings.
Angiosperms
• Because their seeds are enclosed and
protected, angiosperms can live in many
environments.
• Angiosperms are the most diverse and
abundant land plants today.

• The Mesozoic Era ended about 65 million
years ago with a major extinction of land and
marine species.
3
End of an Era
• Many paleontologists hypothesize that a
comet or asteroid collided with Earth,
causing a huge cloud of dust and smoke to
rise in the atmosphere, blocking out the Sun.

• Without sunlight the plants died, and all
animals that depended on these plants also
died.
3
End of an Era
• All the organisms that you see around you
today are descendants of the survivors of the
great extinction at the end of the Mesozoic
Era.

• The Cenozoic Era, or era of recent life,
began about 65 million years ago and
continues today.
3
The Cenozoic Era
• The Cenozoic Era is subdivided into two
periods.
• The first of these is the Tertiary period.
• The present-day period is the Quaternary
Period. It began about 1.8 million years ago.

• Many mountain ranges
formed during the
Cenozoic Era.
3
Times of Mountain Building
• These include the
Alps in Europe and
the Andes in South
America.

• The Himalaya
formed as
India moved
northward and
collided with
Asia.
3
Times of Mountain Building
• The collision crumpled and thickened Earth’s
crust, raising the highest mountains presently
on Earth.

• Throughout much of the Cenozoic Era,
expanding grasslands favored grazing plant
eaters like horses, camels, deer, and some
elephants.
3
Further Evolution of Mammals
• Many kinds of
mammals became
larger.

• Not all mammals remained on land.
3
• Ancestors of the present-day whales and
dolphins evolved to live in the sea.

• As Australia and South America separated
from Antarctica during the continuing
breakup of the continents, many species
became isolated.
3
• They evolved separately from life-forms in
other parts of the world.

• Evidence of this can be seen today in
Australia’s marsupials.
3
• Marsupials are mammals such as kangaroos,
koalas, and wombats that carry their young in
a pouch.

• Your species, Homo sapiens, probably
appeared about 140,000 years ago.
3
• Some people suggest that the appearance of
humans could have led to the extinction of
other mammals.
• As their numbers grew, humans competed for
food that other animals relied upon.

3
Section Check
Question 1
During which time
period did Pangaea
separate?
A. Devonian
B. Mississippian
C. Permian
D. Triassic
NC: 5.01,
5.02, 5.03

3
Section Check
Answer
The answer is D. Pangaea separated into two
large landmasses, Laurasia and Gondwanaland,
during the Triassic Period.
NC: 5.01,
5.02, 5.03

3
Section Check
Question 2
The era of recent life is the __________.
A. Cenozoic Era
B. Mesozoic Era
C. Paleozoic Era
D. Precambrian Time
NC: 5.01

3
Section Check
Answer
The answer is A. The Cenozoic Era began
about 65 million years ago.
NC: 5.01

3
Section Check
Question 3
What were the dominant land animals of the
Mesozoic Era?
A. Dinosaurs
B. Gymnosperms
C. Predatory fish
D. Trilobites
NC: 5.01, 5.03

3
Section Check
Answer
The answer is A. Dinosaurs were the
dominant land animals of the Mesozoic Era.
Gymnosperms were the dominant plants.
NC: 5.01, 5.03

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